A universal integrated circuit card (UICC) is a smart card inserted into a mobile communication terminal and enables the use of the safe mobile communication by storing personal information such as network access authentication information on a mobile communication subscriber, a telephone directory, and SMS to perform subscriber authentication and a generation of a traffic security key upon an access to mobile communication networks such as GSM, WCDMA, and LTE. The UICC includes communication applications such as a subscriber identification module (SIM), a universal SIM (USIM), and an IP multimedia SIM (ISIM) according to a kind of mobile communication networks to which a subscriber is accessed. Further, the UICC may provide a high-level security function for including various applications such as an electronic wallet, ticketing, and an electronic passport.
The conventional UICC is manufactured as a dedicated card for the corresponding mobile communication operator by the request of a specific mobile communication operator at the time of manufacturing a card, and is shipped while being preloaded with authentication information for network access of the corresponding mobile communication operator (e.g., USIM application and subscriber identification ID (IMSI), encryption key (K) value). Therefore, the corresponding mobile communication operator receives the manufactured UICC card and delivers the UICC card to a subscriber. Thereafter, if necessary, technologies of over the air (OTA) or the like may be applied to perform managements of installation, modification, deletion, or the like of applications within the UICC. A subscriber inserts the UICC card into his/her own mobile communication terminal to use a network of the corresponding mobile communication operator and application services. In addition, when replacing a terminal, a subscriber takes out the UICC card from the conventional terminal and inserts the UICC card into a new terminal, such that the new terminal may use authentication information, a mobile communication telephone number, a personal telephone directory, or the like, which are stored in the UICC card, as they are.
Meanwhile, the UICC card maintains international compatibility by defining its physical shape and logical function in a standardization organization called European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). Reviewing a form factor that defines the physical shape, a size of the form factor is getting smaller and smaller, from the most widely used Mini SIM to the Micro SIM that has been in use for several years and recently to the Nano SIM. As a result, it greatly contributes to the miniaturization of the mobile communication terminal. However, UICC cards smaller in size than the recently established Nano SIM are expected to be difficult to standardize due to the loss of users, and detachable UICC cards are expected to be difficult to further be miniaturized because a space for mounting detachable slots into the terminal is required due to its nature.
In addition, the detachable UICC cards are not suitable for a machine-to-machine (M2M) device that is required to access a mobile communication data network without a direct manipulation of a user in various installation environments such as intelligent home appliances, electricity/water meters, and a CCTV camera.
In order to solve such a problem, a method for replacing the conventional detachable UICC may be considered by embedding a security module performing functions similar to the UICC in the terminal during the manufacturing stage of the mobile communication terminal. Such a security module may be installed in the terminal during the manufacturing of the terminal, or may be installed so that it cannot be detached from some terminals. Therefore, it may be difficult to previously mount network access authentication information of a specific mobile communication operator such as IMSI, K of the USIM during the manufacturing the terminal unless it is manufactured as a terminal dedicated to a specific mobile communication operator, and the authentication information may be set only after joining a specific mobile communication operator.
Unlike the conventional UICC card which was manufactured and distributed only for a specific mobile communication operator, as a user who purchased a terminal performs a subscription to a specific mobile communication operator and a cancellation of his/her subscription to the specific mobile communication operator, a change of his/her subscription to another mobile communication operator, or the like on the UICC in addition to an eUICC which is a security module in which a newly introduced terminal is embedded, authentication information of various mobile communication operators has to be able to be safely and flexibly installed and managed.